Tunisian fifth seed Ons Jabeur overcame his own disappointment to reach the semi-finals of the US Open by beating Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Tuesday, returning became the first Arab woman to reach the final four at the New York hardcourt majors. .
Tomljanovic survived tennis’s biggest highlight when she beat Serena Williams in a tight third golden hour match on Friday but couldn’t keep up in the quarterfinals after Jabeur beat three Aces and 15 winners in the first set.
The Wimbledon finalist was famous as Tunisia’s “Minister of Happiness” but found her own enthusiastic cheers put to the test when unwarranted errors piled up in the second set and she threw racket many times.
Although she broke Tomljanovic in the opening match of the second set, her grasp of the game began to falter as her serve deteriorated and the Australian converted three out of four. break point opportunities.
“I think I’m going to be fired from my job here, Happiness Minister,” Jabeur joked in a court interview.
“Tennis is a difficult sport and I apologize for my behavior … but the racket just kept slipping out of my hands.”
Tomljanovic gave Jabeur a break with a double foul in the ninth game and headed the ball into the net at the end of the tiebreak as the stone-faced player threw his fist in a light celebration.
“It’s hard to contain the frustration,” Jabeur said. “She kept fighting and she made it difficult for me.”
The 28-year-old said she is trying to build match-by-match confidence after years of early Grand Slam eliminations, with running to the Wimbledon final proving she belongs in the upper echelons of the sport. this.
“Knowing that I could make it to the finals at Grand Slams really helped my game, I just tried to build on that experience to go into my second week at Grand Slams,” she said. with reporters.
She next faces Caroline Garcia of France, who is playing one of the best tennis of her career and last month became the first to win a Cincinnati qualifier.
Jabeur said: “I knew she was very aggressive and it was a tough game.
“So whoever can impose her game will be in better shape. So I will try to play my game. I will try to be me”.
